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 Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 6:48 pm
 A quick flash of something tan followed by a swirl of bubbles as the figure peered into crevasses and moved on after finding nothing. A tuneless hum followed the figure as she moved among the rocks and coral that populated her home territory. "Trida, are we going back yet?" asked a grumpy looking teal turtle that followed after the tan mermare. He dodged around her tail fin as she moved to dart off again. He was tempted to just leave, but Trida inevitably got herself into trouble if someone was there to look after her. "No! We're only have done, Litto." Trida chimed in her normal perky manner. "There has to be a new shell or something around here...and if nothing else I want to eat at that kelp grove just a little ways away." she motioned towards her little bag she was wearing for this trip and swam off again to go peek in another nook.Litto sighed and moved to get a breath before resuming trailing after his mare. "Fine fine...just a bit longer though! There have been rumors of strange creatures around here..." he said looking around on the look out for anything strange. "Oh, there's nothing that bad around here!" she said chidingly.
It was just then that a shadow passed above her catching her attention. "Hmm?" she looked up at the shadow that seemed to be slightly serpentine, but too big to be another mer. "I didn't know anyone else was around here... New neighbor?" she muttered to herself then darted up. "Hello~!" she called cheerfully. "Trida!" Litto called after her then swam as fast as he could after her. "Trida, come back!" He just hoped whoever was up there wasn't about to chomp her to bits.
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:24 pm
Tiny legs kicked pitifully in the water, the filly's long serpentine tail doing most of the work to keep her afloat as she swam around the little cove. Several times her green eyes looked back towards the shore to make sure her family was still in sight. She paused to watch them quietly, heavily debating if she should go back or not.
"I...just don't want to be eaten..." the filly mumbled, pitifully unaware of her body flailing about, trying to keep her head above the water.
However, it wasn't long before she went under completely and began to panic. 'I'm going to die here and no one will even notice me missing...until they get hungry.' She thought, green eyes wide with fear and looking around the rocks and coral that filled the cove. It wasn't long until another voice caught her attention. 'That doesn't sound like them...ah! Ohno! Someone is going to come eat me here!'
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:50 pm
Trida swam up towards the surface and was surprised when whoever had been at the top met her half way. She looked over the little figure never having seen a little kelpie before. "Hmm..." she peeked into the little blue face and blinked. "Oh dear, are you supposed to down here?" she asked as the little girl continued to sink. She frowned as she didn't get an answer. "Umm...hmm..."
"Trida! Take her to the surface!" Litto called up to her as he caught up to the pair. "She's drowning!"
"Oh no!" She gasped and quickly swam under the little filly and pushed her back to the surface. "Please don't die, little one!" Trida used powerful stroke of her tail to keep them both afloat. She used one of her front hooves and gently patted the filly on the back. "Come on! You'll be okay!"
Litto broke the surface a moment later and swam over getting under the little filly. "I got her Trida. You can ease up a bit you're rocking us all."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:59 pm
The filly's entire body instantly stilled when the mer touched her. Surely she was now dead and nothing could save her. Green eyes continued to dart around, however, taking in that she was back at the surface...but now her family was nowhere to be seen on the shore. 'Oh...they left me behind...'
A long while passed before she reacted to the voices speaking and keeping her afloat, slowly turning her head to look at the mer. "Uh...uhm...I'm not very good with others..." she mumbled softly, falling limp in the water again. "W-why did you save me anyway....? I don't know how to deal with being saved..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:09 pm
Trida blinked in shock. "I couldn't let you drown! That would be terrible! Horrible even! Would you really want to sink to the bottom and then get eaten by mean fish?" she asked swimming around the little filly. "What are you?" she asked. "I've never seen anyone like you before. Then again I don't see many surface dwellers anyway." she ducked under the water then resurfaced. "Is Litto keeping you afloat okay? Do you need me to hold you up too?" She smiled softly trying to make the little one feel more at ease.
Litto grunted a bit. "Trida maybe we should take the little one to shore...She's getting a little heavy..."
"Oh! Would that be okay, sweetie?" Trida asked.
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:15 pm
"You should have just let me go...everyone just wants to eat me. It would be easier to eat me if you just let me go..." she mumbled, letting them take her to shore anyway. Once she felt the sand under her, she flopped her head down to lay in silence for a while.
"Even my family left me here...they don't know how to deal with me...so I guess I'll just lay here in the sun and dry up. I can't swim either, so I'm useless...ah! I don't know how to deal with being useless!" She cried out pitifully, slapping her tail against the sand.
Another long silence followed before she spoke up again. "Why are you so cheerful? Don't the big fish and other scary things in the water want to eat you too? It seems like it would be tiring to keep swimming all the time to keep away..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:24 pm
Litto moved out from under the filly as she touched the ground. He retreated back a bit and watched her flop down on the sand. "What are you talking about, little one? Why would anyone want to eat you!" he exclaimed. He kept trying to avoid ending up on the shore but gave up after a few waves and let himself slide up on one side of the filly. He patted her leg gently with a flipper. "You seem a nice enough filly. Much better behaved than Trida there." he said jerking his head.
"Litto! How could you say such a thing." Trida pouted and slid herself partially out of the water to rest on the other side of the girl. She made sure to leave most of her back end in the water so she could swim away quickly if she needed too. "Have you ever been swimming before?" she asked. "If it was your first time, it's understandable that you might not be very good at it. Even mer's have to learn how to swim when we come out of our shells." she said with a smile.
She tilted her head as the filly questioned her attitude. She slapped her back fin and nodded. "Of course sharks scare me something awful! But you gotta teach them who's boss and give them a good hoof to the face!" she said stamping a hoof. "But they learn eventually." she giggled. "And I'm happy because I have lots of fun. I get to play with dolphins and find pretty shells and tease otters! I always have fun things to do." she said with a nod.
Litto huffed and rolled his eyes. "And get in to lots of trouble."
Trida stuck her tongue out at Litto. "Oh and I spend time with Litto." she said motioning over towards her turtle. "Even if he is a grump." she smiled. "Oh, and I'm Trida Nidae. What's your name?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:42 pm
"Mother would..." The little one shook her head and suddenly looked very fearful of the idea of going back in the water. "N-never. First time. I don't know how to deal with swimming!" She simpered, curling her tail up and away from the water. "No one's tried to teach us yet....father can swim...I think..."
Green eyes stared past Trida and into the rather imposing water. She blinked after a moment and focused back on the mer again. "Oh..uhm...Walla....Walla. Your name is prettier than mine..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:11 pm
Trida reared back a bit in shock. "Why on earth would your mother try to eat you, sweetie? Shouldn't she love you and take care of you?" Least that was what mothers were supposed to do in Trida's mind. She couldn't remember her own mother very well, so she wasn't entirely sure, but eating one's babies didn't sound right. "Well, I can always teach you to swim." she offered with a smile. Even if the little filly wasn't a mer, it couldn't be too different, Trida had a tail, she had a tail and that was half the battle right there. "It's all the same in the end." she tilted her head remembering a nice little place that didn't get very rough surf and would be a good place for a little foal to learn. "I even know somewhere you could practice." she said.
Litto reached over and patted Walla with a fluke. "Your name is very nice too. It's just different. Nothing wrong with different." he said with a sage nod.
Trida nodded her agreement. "It really is. It's a pretty name for a pretty little filly." she frowned slightly trying to think of something to cheer Walla up. She didn't like it when others were sad, and Walla seemed to spend most of her time there. "Would you like to see the sea shells I collected today?" she asked, maybe seeing some pretty things would cheer her up.
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:36 pm
"Mother is strange...something's wrong with her..." Walla shivered and shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her mind. "I don't want to think about her!"
Eventually she rolled over in the sand, mostly to escape the strange patting from the turtle, and stood up to get a better look at the two. "Shells?" The filly asked, tilting her head at Trida. "I don't think I've ever seen shells before...lots of bones though. There's always bones..." She whispered, scuffing a hoof in the sand. "Are shells anything like bones? If so...I don't really want to see them..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:54 pm
Litto snorted as the filly moved away. Well Trida seemed to have a handle on this situation. Maybe it was a good time for him to bug out for awhile. There was a smack of jellyfish near here and if he could get there before too much longer he wouldn't have to hunt as far for his supper. "Trida I'm gonna go get something to eat. You handle this." he said sliding him self backwards into the water, turning and ducking into the surf.
"Okay, Litto." Trida said turning to watch her friend go. She almost offered to help get him back in the water, he having almost as hard a time as she did getting unbeached, but he seemed to have it all in order, so she turned back to Walla. She wondered if she should say something about the other's mother but after the adamant statement about not wanting to think about her, Trida turned back to the shells.
"Well...umm..." Trida tried to decide how to answer that. Shells were sort of like the bones of mollusks and snails, but did being on the outside of the body make a difference? She frowned and decided there was really only one way to let Walla decide for herself. She turned her head showing off the clam shell that held her necklace together. "This is a shell." she said. "See not really like bones at all, and they come in prettier colors than just brown like mine. I have lots of colorful ones if you want to see." she said turning her head back.
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:06 am
Walla watched Litto as he pulled himself back into the water. She stared in curiosity as his form swam away and out into the deeper areas of the cove. "He's fast...but weird..." She mumbled and then turned her attention to the shell Trida was showing off.
Stepping forward, Walla awkwardly reached a leg out, tapping at the shell once with a hoof before quickly retracting. "It sounds like when I bump into the bones! It's pretty but confusing! Why does it sound like that?" She begged, panicking in the process. "Why do you collect them if they sound like that? Do they all sound like that?" She had to admit that in the back of her mind she was intrigued by these new objects, but was beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort to go see something that was inciting so much fear.
"I...I...I want to see them...but...can you not make them make those sounds? I don't know how to deal with that..." Green eyes briefly glanced at the water, "Will I have to learn to swim there...?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:21 am
"Actually he's really slow, but yes he is weird." Trida giggled. "But he's my best friend, and we go everywhere together, and I know that if I get in trouble, Litto will always be there to help me." she said sounding oddly serious for once.
Trida watched as Walla investigated the shell on her necklace. She frowned and furrowed her brow at the youngster's reaction. "They do? I don't know what bones sound like in the air, or what they sound like at all. Fish have very soft bones so they don't make any noise at all when they knock together. All shells sound like underwater when I pick them up, is a soft thunkish sort of sound or a soft clink when they hit each other in my bag." she tugged on the rope around her body and moved the canvas back into plain view. There was a soft clinking sound as the shells inside knocked against each other. "I like to collect them because they're pretty, and sometimes I can trade them with land dwellers to get things I can't get in the ocean, like apples! Or pretty trinkets to put in my grotto" she said with a nod.
She glanced over her shoulder back at the water. The waves rolled in endlessly and Trida knew she was going to have to move soon before she got pushed too far up the beach or stuck in a rut made by her body. She looked back a Walla a little confused. "In the water? Yes, that's where you swim. Here though?" she looked over her shoulder again and shook her head. "Not here though, the surf can get rough and that's no good for someone just learning to swim." she said with a nod. "I know somewhere quiet and protected that you could learn how to do it."
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:35 am
Walla cringed again at the sounds of the shells clinking against each other. Her intrigue was getting the better of her as she looked over the various, brightly colored shells in the bag. "Mmmn...I like them...but I don't like the sounds. I wish I could stop that sound."
The filly managed to pull herself away from the noisy, colorful shells and back towards the ocean before them. "C-can I walk there? I like walking...I can think about nothing when I walk places." Walla murmured, awkwardly dipping a hoof into the water and wondering why she ever went into it in the first place. "It's better than what I was doing in there. The water...I'm not sure why I tried 'swimming' the first time. I don't have a tail like yours..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:46 am
Trida opened the bag and pulled one of the shells out. On the outside it looked plain almost sort of dirty. The inside of it was brightly colored mother of pearl. She set it pearl side up and let the filly look into it. "I'm afraid I don't know how to make them be quiet...I suppose you could wrap them in something so that they can't hit against each other, but I don't know really. Things sound different underwater than they do up here." She flicked her powerful tail fin a few times dragging herself backwards a bit in the water to keep from going forward anymore.
Trida looked around to get her bearings, everything was So different on the surface. "Hmmm," she mused looking both ways. "You could walk there, I think." she said motioning off to the right with her head. "There's a cove that's shaped like a crescent moon just a little ways down the shore line. A sand bar and the edges of the crescent break up the waves so it's nice and calm there." She looked over at Walla. "Well...maybe you just wanted to do something different. Sometimes you just need to do things like that so you don't get bored." she looked around at the filly's tail. "But you do have a swimming tail. I'll bet you can swim just like an eel and your tail can do all the work for you. If you put your mind to it you'll be swimming like a fish in no time." She said with a nod.
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